‘Hellooo . . . Hellooo?’: An awkward phone call becomes part of the Trump spectacle

The following article by David Nakamura was posted on the Washington Post website August 27, 2018:

A call between President Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto got off to a rocky start on Aug. 27 when Trump realized Peña Nieto was not on the call. (Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

Amid breaking news of a U.S.-Mexico trade deal, President Trump invited reporters into the Oval Office on Monday to punctuate the moment in an unusual way: allowing them to sit in on a celebratory phone chat with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.

But when he punched a button on a phone on the Resolute Desk, the line was dead.

“Enrique?” Trump said, with television cameras rolling. There was no response. “You can hook him up,” he called out to aides. “You tell me when. This is a big deal. A lot of people are waiting.”

View the complete article here.